At the early primary level our critical thinking goal is to develop students’ ability to answer a range of simple questions that require choice among two or three options based on one or two criteria.

The questions will be as simple as, “Which would make a better pet—an elephant or hamster? We help students go beyond repeating what others have told them (“My parents say that hamsters make good pets”) or voicing personal wishes (“I like elephants”). Instead, we want each student to make a choice or reach a decision supported with a reason (“Classroom pets should be easy to take care for. I think a hamster would be a better pet.” Or “Classroom pets should be interesting. I think an elephant is more interesting than a hamster.”)

We can gradually bring very young children to this stage by making four practices a regular part of our teaching.

Frame critical challenges

Critical thinking with early primary students

Tips for Teachers

© 2013 The Critical Thinking Consortiumwww.tc2.ca

To lay a foundation with young children, introduce a handful of tools, create a supportive climate and encourage them to think for themselves.

Creating a thinking classroom

Nurturethoughtful

communities

Framecritical

challenges

Backgroundknowledge

Criteria forjudgment

Critical thinkingvocabulary

Thinkingsrategies

Habitsof mind

Teachthe intellectual

tools

Assessthinking andperformance

bias

Wherever appropriate, frame questions that go beyond asking students to repeat information or express their likes. We want to offer students the challenge of deciding what would be a good option or what would make the most sense.

Critical thinking questions and tasks can address the everyday choices about what to do next and how to act, and also the topics students are studying. Questions can be prompted by many things: • pictures• objects• stories• realclassroomdecisions• roleplayedsituations

Sample challenges

n Would a __________ or a __________ make a better classroom pet?

n Would _________ or ____________ make a better friend? (comparing characters from stories that students have just read)

n Which is the better (more friendly or safer) solution?

n Which answer best fits the clues?

n Who would be the better helper if we had this problem?

n Which would be the better present? (make the person happiest and be good for them)

n Of the three choices, which is the best way to welcome a new person to the class?

Students will be more effective thinkers if their commitment to a few values related to good thinking

translates into ongoing habits:

• Makingupone’sownmind(DecidingwhatIbelieve)

• Caringhowothersmightbeaffected(Empathy)

Studentswillbeabletothinkmoreeffectivelyiftheyunderstandafewbasicconceptsrelatedto

thinking:

• Problemandsolution • Evidenceorreason

• Guessandclue • Consequences(Whatwouldhappenif...)

Teach the intellectual toolsEffectivelyteachingjustahandfulofbasictoolssostudentsunderstandand“own”themwillenabletheirthinkingtoreach surprising and impressive levels.

Assess thinking and performanceTo support thinking, our assessment practices must go beyond student mastery of the standard or accepted answers and look to the thinking behind their answers. A student who selects an elephant as the better classroom pet because it is more interesting has shown that she is capable of giving an accurate and relevant reason for a decision. She may also have shown that she hasn’t considered all of the relevant factors, including feasibility. Our assessments should attend to how well students show mastery of the thinking tools discussed above.

Nurture thoughtful communities Primary teachers know how crucial a supportive classroom and home environment is to student learning. There are a few simple but important practices for creating an atmosphere that supports thinking:

• Helpstudentsfeelsafetoexpressopinionsinclassandathome.

• Regularlyaskstudentstoexpressopinions(informallyinindividualandsmallgroupsituationsmorethanaspartof whole class lessons).

• Encouragestudentstoofferareason/explaintheirthinking.

• Whenappropriate,turnstudentrequestsbacktothem.(Answerstudentquestionswithaquestion—“Butwhatdoyouthink?DothinkitwouldbebettertodoXorY?”)

© 2013 The Critical Thinking Consortiumwww.tc2.ca

Background knowledge

Studentswillbeabletomakeawiderangeofreasonedchoicesiftheyunderstandsomeverybasic

considerations or criteria for making decisions:

• Isitfair? • Canwedothis?

• Willitbesafe? • Willitushelpuslearn?

• Dowereallyneedthis?Criteria for judgment

bias

Critical thinking vocabulary

Studentswillbeabletothinkmoreeffectivelyiftheyhaveafewstrategiestohelpthemgenerateand

organize their ideas:

• Thinkingyesandthinkingno(pro/con)

• Whatdoesitlooklike?Soundlike?

• Howwould(someoneelse)feelaboutthis?

Thinking strategies

Habits of mind

Studentsareabletomakereasonedchoicesonlyiftheyknowsomerelevantfactsaboutthetopics

theyarebeingaskedtothinkabout.Forexample,ifstudentsaretodecidewhetheritisfeasibleand

safetohaveanelephantasaclassroompet,theywillneedtoknowsomethingaboutitssize,eating

requirementsandtemperament.